Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-07-08
Social Otirl:s.

Social 0uirIs
Nothlng IN history, says the Boston
Gtooe, can furnish more amusement
than the social fancies and customs
which have prevailed from time to time
ana tnen disappeared, only to turn up
again IN the course of few revolving
years. The dress of our grandparents
IS our present craze, and the mere state
ment that thing is cold" enhances its
value. Now and then we find some
brave enough to assert that they will
not bow the adoring knee to an ugly
picture or curio because it is old.
The women Of past years wore decol-
lete gowns and danced the minuet-the
women Of the present do likewise. with
great difference OF manners. Stately
courtesy has given place largely to
gushing eitusion. The woman who is
simple, natural casy--in short. her
wonanly self-can only listen and alb
sorb the mixture of syllabub and sense
poured out by so-called society wo-
men," The man who goes from one
house to another saying pleasant things
to the same people, in the same way,
and with the same amount of truthful
ness, is repetition of his grandfather,
who did all this in the past. Just now
the reception, in all its varied forms,
with all its peculiar and agreeable or
dlsagreeable features, reigns supreme.
n busy woman who must think, who
must care for others, whose heart is in
her work for others, and whose life
cannot be confined within four walls,
or any narrowing conventionalities,
seeks her kind, and saves her precious
moments by receiving her friends upon
one day in the week. The busy man,
shut in his Office for long hours, harassed
by many cares and often fagellated by
foes, finds it sweeter and better for the
few moments chat in some attractive
home. where beauty, music, and flow
ers give him the needed poetry to mate
with his prosaic cares.
10 those people and to all who need
the friction Of mind with mind the
o'clock "tcas" or informal Eat homes"
are delight if rightly controlled. The
danger lies in excess. The charm is
lost beyond a certain point. The
sweetest music bores us when we have
listened until our heads ache. An in
cessant round of receptions must tax
the nerves and strength without furn-
lshlng mental stimulants. To see the
people we value, to talk with those we
respect, to linger for even few brief
moments in the society Of those we love
affords inspiration, if such companion
ship allows us to speak as sensible
human beings should speak; but to be
crowded in heated rooms, to hear a
dea!cnimg, unified roar Of human voices,
and to utter commonplaces i'll response
to commonplaces is simply dcmoraliz-
ing, and is rebound from the inevit-
able ESSAY and discussion, which has
leen the chief delight Of Boston society
for several years.
No city in our Union can show a
greater number OF brilliant women
than our own, and nowhere can CONVEX
sation, sensible and amusing, be carried
to such an enjoyable degree. Our need
of the hour is spirited independence; a
courteous and kindly putting aside Of
all customs and quirks which, through
excess, may lead us to lower our
standard Of literary excellence to be-
little the .reat good of social inter-
course, and, worse than all, to give the
young men and young women floth
rather than good intellectual wine or
sparkling tonic.